1. The Rise of Evil

2.  “To what extent was Hitler’s
rise to power due more to
favourable circumstances than
his leadership abilities?”

3. Circumstances
O There was early O to the Weimar Government
C The Weimar Government was a C Government
D During its time in power, the Weimar Government made a few
Bad D
C The WR also lost a C Leader in Gustav
Stresemann
D The WR was badly affected by the Great D
PPOSITION
OALITION
EPRESSION
APABLE
ECISIONS

4. Rise of Hitler
(1) Favourable
Circumstances
WR was a coalition government
Opposition from left and right wings
WR made bad decisions
Lost a capable leader/ Great Depression
(2) Hitler’s own
abilities
Excellent speaker & charismatic
leader
Exploiting Fear of Communism
Reorganised the Nazi Party
Made deals with politicians

5.  National Socialist GermanWorkers Party
(NSDAP), a.k.a. Nazi Party
 Hitler’s work Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
 Written while he was imprisoned
 Outlined his beliefs

6. ARYAN

7.  Others
i) Efficient organisation of all aspects of the
lives of the masses under the central
government – Familiar?
ii) Greatness achieved through war

8.  Promised to solve unemployment problem

9.  Anti-communist views appealed to the
RIGHT
 Talk of equality, state control and creation of
jobs appealed to the LEFT
 Position onTOV, Aryan Race, Lebensraum
appealed to Nationalists

10. Think about
the way
Hitler
speaks:
Take note of
- his voice
- his body
language

11.  Brilliant speaker with great charisma
 Master at gauging the audience’s mood
 Great energy
 Beer hall speeches
 Why?
 People at ease and were receptive
 Addressed people’s concerns
 Familiar with people’s concerns
 Used ‘November criminals’, communists and Jews as
scapegoats

12.  Farmers feared a communist victory
 Why?
 Businessmen too
 Why?
 Hitler promised farmers and businessmen that
he would help them if in power

13.  Alfred Hugenberg
 Newspaper and film studio owner
 Allowed Nazis to use his studio to make
propaganda films

14.  Need to restore Stability
 Unrest in 1930s due to unemployment
 Communists fought police in streets of Germany
 Hitler used his armed forces (SA) to fight
communists and break up meetings
 People looked to the Nazis to restore order

15.  Nazis began with limited support
 Failed Munich rising in 1923  Imprisonment
 Only 3% of votes before Great Depression
Other
political
parties
The Nazi
Party

16. Increase Party
Membership
Est. local Nazi
parties
Youth
Organisations

17. Est. SA and
SS
SA:
paramilitary
organisation
- Break up strikes and
Communist meetings
SS: Hitler’s
personal
bodyguard
Himmler

18. Propaganda
Appeal to
emotions rather
than intellect
Portray Nazis as a
strong party united
under ONE leader

19. Election results
1928 1932
Other
political
parties
Other
political
parties
The Nazi
Party
The Nazi
Party

20.  In 1932, the Nazi party had the most seats (37%)
in the Parliament (Reichstag)
 President von Hindenburg was pressurised to
agree to Hitler’s demand for chancellorship.
 Persuaded by Franz von Papen who thought that the
conservatives could channel their support for Hitler
into support for the policies of the cabinet.

21.  Furthermore, it was hoped that Hitler could
help the government to control the
Communists.
 On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed
Chancellor.
 Within months, he endedWeimar Germany
and started theThird Reich.
 More on this later on.

22.  “To what extent was Hitler’s
rise to power due more to
favourable circumstances than
his leadership abilities?”